I can’t say I was shocked when I heard that Tim Curry died yesterday, only saddened. He was an ongoing presence in film during my formative years in the 90s, a “friendly face” as I refer to celebrities I saw often on the screen that left me with a good impression when I was growing up. To be honest, as a kid I thought Tim Curry was a little weird, but I can’t deny that he had magnetism.
I think I first saw him in Oscar, a comedy with Sylvester Stallone in the lead playing a mob boss who’s trying to decide what to do with his daughter who’s out of control. He stood out in Home Alone 2 as a secondary villain, and the scenes in which he was trying to take down Kevin McAlister are still hilarious, especially when that kid had the hotel staff convinced that there was a gunman in his room.
Curry went to a different level when I saw him as the perfect Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers; he was still the best in that swashbuckling classic. He played a cowardly stooge in The Shadow and chewed the scenery he was in and the scene in which The Shadow confronts him for the last time was plenty on the hammy side and he was also at his sweatiest.
I was about 13 when I first saw Clue. Once again, he was magnetic, this time as Wadsworth the butler. What does he do? He buttles. Somehow, that movie has had a more enduring impact on me than the rest of the movies I previously mentioned, mostly due to him. I stopped seeing him as weird or somewhat sinister and instead was starting to realize that he was a fun, talented, and energetic person. It wasn’t long afterwards that I recognized his voice in Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost; I have to admit that when Scooby Doo had his home video revival in the 90s, this one and Zombie Island were edgier than most of the Scoob movies and broke its original Radcliffian tradition of the villain making his deeds appear supernatural when in fact they weren’t. I also remember Muppet Treasure Island, a movie that I appreciate more now than when I watched it as a kid. When playing Scrooge in Muppet Christmas Carol, Michael Caine said that he would act as if the Muppets were real people, and so he played it straight. Tim Curry took the adjacent approach; he acted as if the Muppets were real people and played the scurvy scallywag Long John Silver like a Muppet too. This goes to show that there can be more than one right way to do something. From a reader’s perspective I love the fact that both Muppet movies I mentioned are reasonably true to their respective books.
I was in my early twenties when I saw the original adaptation of IT for the first time. I love this movie and I like the newer ones quite a bit (even part II, although I admit that it has its problems), but I can’t deny that Tim Curry was an unforgettable and terrifying Pennywise. When I finally read the book, I was disappointed to see what the movie could have been, but still glad that it turned out so well. Many TV movies, at least ones that are over 20 years old appeared cheap, felt cheap, and sounded cheap, but IT still holds together.
Years followed, I saw him in Season 2 of Psych and it’s still one of the funniest scripts I have ever heard and not only was his parody of stuck-up British talent scouts spot on, but he made himself lovable and punchable at the same time. As I got older, I finally got around to seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I could see right away why it’s the most beloved cult film of all time and it was just that Tim Curry was sporting fishnets. It broke numerous taboos, had some amazing music (let’s do the time warp again!), and the opening song made it clear that it was a tribute to horror movies.
It was a year or so after I got married around 2016 that I finally saw Legend, a sleeper when it was released, but a remarkable film. It had the mythic quality that makes some fantasy tales so powerful and his performance as Darkness, coupled with his makeup and prosthetics was unbelievable. There’s a reason I bought a copy of that movie as soon as possible afterwards.
One of the last things I recall seeing him in was in Criminal Minds (a two-part episode), in which he played a depraved serial killer. To top it off, there is also an amazing full-cast audiobook of Dracula on Audible with Curry as Van Helsing. He was always good at playing villains, but that fact is at odds with the things I heard about him in real life (just read the wonderful things that Annie Potts wrote about him).
It seemed that even when he was in a bad movie and he was hamming it up he was still good. When he was in a good movie, his presence always made it better. When taking the scattering of productions that I’ve seen him in, I am really struck by the impact he has made, not just in pop culture, but on me personally. I was aware that his health was declining, which is why I wasn’t surprised when he passed, but it seems like we didn’t have him in our lives long enough (I’m just selfish that way.) Goodbye, Tim, I miss you already.
Written by Nick Montelongo
I think I first saw him in Oscar, a comedy with Sylvester Stallone in the lead playing a mob boss who’s trying to decide what to do with his daughter who’s out of control. He stood out in Home Alone 2 as a secondary villain, and the scenes in which he was trying to take down Kevin McAlister are still hilarious, especially when that kid had the hotel staff convinced that there was a gunman in his room.
Curry went to a different level when I saw him as the perfect Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers; he was still the best in that swashbuckling classic. He played a cowardly stooge in The Shadow and chewed the scenery he was in and the scene in which The Shadow confronts him for the last time was plenty on the hammy side and he was also at his sweatiest.I was about 13 when I first saw Clue. Once again, he was magnetic, this time as Wadsworth the butler. What does he do? He buttles. Somehow, that movie has had a more enduring impact on me than the rest of the movies I previously mentioned, mostly due to him. I stopped seeing him as weird or somewhat sinister and instead was starting to realize that he was a fun, talented, and energetic person. It wasn’t long afterwards that I recognized his voice in Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost; I have to admit that when Scooby Doo had his home video revival in the 90s, this one and Zombie Island were edgier than most of the Scoob movies and broke its original Radcliffian tradition of the villain making his deeds appear supernatural when in fact they weren’t. I also remember Muppet Treasure Island, a movie that I appreciate more now than when I watched it as a kid. When playing Scrooge in Muppet Christmas Carol, Michael Caine said that he would act as if the Muppets were real people, and so he played it straight. Tim Curry took the adjacent approach; he acted as if the Muppets were real people and played the scurvy scallywag Long John Silver like a Muppet too. This goes to show that there can be more than one right way to do something. From a reader’s perspective I love the fact that both Muppet movies I mentioned are reasonably true to their respective books.
I was in my early twenties when I saw the original adaptation of IT for the first time. I love this movie and I like the newer ones quite a bit (even part II, although I admit that it has its problems), but I can’t deny that Tim Curry was an unforgettable and terrifying Pennywise. When I finally read the book, I was disappointed to see what the movie could have been, but still glad that it turned out so well. Many TV movies, at least ones that are over 20 years old appeared cheap, felt cheap, and sounded cheap, but IT still holds together.
Years followed, I saw him in Season 2 of Psych and it’s still one of the funniest scripts I have ever heard and not only was his parody of stuck-up British talent scouts spot on, but he made himself lovable and punchable at the same time. As I got older, I finally got around to seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I could see right away why it’s the most beloved cult film of all time and it was just that Tim Curry was sporting fishnets. It broke numerous taboos, had some amazing music (let’s do the time warp again!), and the opening song made it clear that it was a tribute to horror movies.
It was a year or so after I got married around 2016 that I finally saw Legend, a sleeper when it was released, but a remarkable film. It had the mythic quality that makes some fantasy tales so powerful and his performance as Darkness, coupled with his makeup and prosthetics was unbelievable. There’s a reason I bought a copy of that movie as soon as possible afterwards.
One of the last things I recall seeing him in was in Criminal Minds (a two-part episode), in which he played a depraved serial killer. To top it off, there is also an amazing full-cast audiobook of Dracula on Audible with Curry as Van Helsing. He was always good at playing villains, but that fact is at odds with the things I heard about him in real life (just read the wonderful things that Annie Potts wrote about him).
It seemed that even when he was in a bad movie and he was hamming it up he was still good. When he was in a good movie, his presence always made it better. When taking the scattering of productions that I’ve seen him in, I am really struck by the impact he has made, not just in pop culture, but on me personally. I was aware that his health was declining, which is why I wasn’t surprised when he passed, but it seems like we didn’t have him in our lives long enough (I’m just selfish that way.) Goodbye, Tim, I miss you already.
Written by Nick Montelongo
The author does not allow comments to this entry
No comments